Jill Hennessy

For the Australian politician, see Jill Hennessy (politician).
Jill Hennessy

Born Jillian Noel Hennessy
(1968-11-25) November 25, 1968
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Occupation Actress, singer
Years active 1988–present
Spouse(s) Paolo Mastropietro (2000-present)
Children 2

Jillian Noel "Jill" Hennessy (born November 25, 1968) is a Canadian actress and musician. She is most known for her roles on the American television series Law & Order, on which she played prosecutor Claire Kincaid for three seasons, and Crossing Jordan, on which she played the lead character, Jordan Cavanaugh, for six seasons. She has also acted in films such as RoboCop 3 and Most Wanted, and the independent films Chutney Popcorn and The Acting Class, the latter of which she also wrote and co-directed.

Early life

Hennessy was born in Edmonton, Alberta. Her father, John Hennessy, was a meat salesman and sales/marketing executive, a job that required considerable travel and resulted in frequent moves for the family. Her mother, Maxine, a secretary, left the family in 1982, leaving her daughter to be partially raised by her paternal grandmother, Eleanor, in Kitchener, Ontario.[1] She has a younger brother, John Paul "J.P." Hennessy, Jr., and an identical twin sister, Jacqueline, who is a magazine writer and TV show host in Canada. Hennessy has Irish, French, Swedish and Italian ancestry on her father's side, and mostly Ukrainian Roma, as well as Austrian, ancestry on her mother's.[2] She attended Stanley Park Senior Public School, then graduated from Grand River Collegiate Institute in Kitchener, Ontario[3] and used to busk in the Toronto subway.[4]

Career

Hennessy at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival

Hennessy and her sister played twin call girls in 1988's Dead Ringers, in which both debuted. She was short listed for the role of Dana Scully on The X-Files according to Gillian Anderson, the actress who eventually got the role.[5]

She appeared on Broadway in the musical Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story in 1990.

In 1993, she appeared as Dr. Marie Lazarus in RoboCop 3.

In 1993, Richard "Dick" Wolf signed Hennessy as assistant district attorney Claire Kincaid in the NBC crime drama Law & Order. She played the role for three seasons, ultimately leaving the show in 1996, her last installment being one in which Kincaid was killed in a car crash.

In 1999, she appeared as Lisa in Chutney Popcorn. In 2000, Hennessy wrote, produced, and jointly directed (with Elizabeth Holder) an independent film mockumentary titled The Acting Class, which looked at the trials and tribulations of a dysfunctional acting class. The film co-starred her identical twin sister Jacqueline, and included cameo appearances from a number of Hennessy's former Law & Order co-stars. She also starred in the film Nuremberg, as Elsie Douglas.

In 2001, she portrayed Jackie Kennedy in the film Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot, and, in 2003, made a cameo appearance in the film Abby Singer. From 2001 to 2007, she appeared on the TV show Crossing Jordan as title character Jordan Cavanaugh. She also played the wife of Tim Allen's character in the 2007 film Wild Hogs. On June 9, 2007, she received a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

During sessions in Austin, Texas, Hennessy recorded the album Ghost in My Head,[6] which was released in June 2009. She performed as a guest of the Indigo Girls on a November 2009 show of Mountain Stage[7] and was the focus of a show for herself later that same month.[8] She performed on the Village Stage of the 2010 edition of Lilith Fair.[9]

Hennessy starred in the independent crime thriller, Small Town Murder Songs, in 2010. She also appeared as a veterinarian in the HBO series Luck, while serving as an endorser of Zaxby's "Zalads" in a pair of television commercials during 2012.

Her second album, I Do, was released in October 2015.[4]

Personal life

Hennessy is multi-lingual, speaking English, Italian, French, Spanish and German. Hennessy plays the guitar and sings, and enjoys riding motorcycles with her husband, Paolo Mastropietro, to whom she has been married since 2000. They had a second marriage ceremony in January 2001, which took place at New York City Hall with Mayor Rudy Giuliani officiating. Their son, Marco, was born on September 17, 2003; and a second son, Gianni, was born on November 21, 2007.

Hennessy's star on Canada's Walk of Fame

The Minneapolis-based band Mollycuddle wrote the song "The Ballad of Jill Hennessy" in honor of the actress.[10] Hennessy was reportedly very pleased and offered to perform with the band on rhythm guitar.[11]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1988 Dead Ringers Mimsy
1993 RoboCop 3 Dr. Marie Lazarus
1993 Trip nach Tunis Kathryn Darby
1994 Paper, TheThe Paper Deanne White
1996 I Shot Andy Warhol Laura
1996 Kiss & Tell Interrogator Angela Pierce
1997 Smile Like Yours, AA Smile Like Yours Lindsay Hamilton
1997 Most Wanted Dr. Victoria Constantini
1998 Weekend Getaway Lily Short film
1998 Dead Broke Kate
1999 Florentine, TheThe Florentine Brenda
1999 Row Your Boat Patti
1999 Two Ninas Mike the Bartender
1999 Chutney Popcorn Lisa
1999 Molly Susan Brookes
1999 Komodo Victoria
2000 Acting Class, TheThe Acting Class Amanda Smythe / Jill / Anonymous
2000 Nuremberg Elsie Douglas Television movie
Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
2001 Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot Jackie Kennedy Television movie
Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2000 Autumn in New York Lynn McCale
2001 Exit Wounds Annette Mulcahy
2002 Love in the Time of Money Ellen Walker
2002 Pipe Dream Marina Peck
2007 Wild Hogs Kelly Madsen
2007 Game of Life Brenda
2008 Lymelife Brenda Bartlett
2010 Small Town Murder Songs Rita
2011 Roadie Nikki Stevens
2012 Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town Agnes Leacock Television movie
Nominated—Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Television Film
2012 Dawn Rider Alice
2013 If I Had Wings Sandy Taylor
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1988 War of the Worlds Patty Episode: "Goliath Is My Name"
1989 Hitchhiker, TheThe Hitchhiker Marla Episode: "Striptease"
1989 Hitchhiker, TheThe Hitchhiker Elisabeth Episode: "Pawns"
1989–90 Friday the 13th: The Series Various 4 episodes
1990 C.B.C.'s Magic Hour Hooker Episode: "The Prom"
1990 War of the Worlds Scott Episode: "Max"
1990 Counterstrike Lex Episode: "The Dealbreaker"
1992 Flying Blind Lauren Benjamin Episode: "Crazy for You... and You"
1993–96 Law & Order A.D.A. Claire Kincaid 68 episodes
Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (1995–97)
1996 Homicide: Life on the Street A.D.A. Claire Kincaid Episode: "For God and Country"
2001–07 Crossing Jordan Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh 115 episodes
Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
2004–06 Las Vegas Dr. Jordan Cavanaugh 3 episodes
2011–12 Luck Jo 10 episodes
2013 Jo Sister Karyn 8 episodes
2014 The Good Wife Rayna Hecht 2 episodes
2015 Madam Secretary Jane Fellows 3 episodes
2016 Shots Fired Alicia Carr

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jill Hennessy.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/5/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.